# Gold Dust

Gold dust is one of the products of mining in Paydirt. It is defined as any naturally occurring gold not large enough to be a gold nugget.\
\
Gold dust is distributed as deposits within [Mining Claims](/virtual-items/collectibles/mining-claims.md). Once it is mined, it can be refined and converted to [Gold Bars](/virtual-items/collectibles/gold-bars.md) at the [Mint & Assay Office](/mint-and-assay-office.md).

One (1) unit of gold dust is one (1) troy ounce. It can be split into 6 decimals or 1 million parts, which can be thought of as fine particles of gold.

Gold dust is worth $16 [Paydirt Dollars](/paydirt-dollars.md) per troy oz.

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On September 9th, 1848, citizens of San Francisco met to decide the price of gold dust. They agreed that $16 per ounce was a fair price and that it ought to be taken in all business transactions at that rate.
{% endhint %}

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Because gold dust is unrefined, it contains impurities and its value is lower than *pure gold*. Impurities can be removed through refining at the [Mint & Assay Office](/mint-and-assay-office.md).
{% endhint %}

Gold dust collects into bottles in the player inventory. Each bottle takes up one inventory slot and weighs 100 troy ounces when fully filled.

In Paydirt, gold dust functions as both a resource and a soft [virtual currency](/virtual-currency.md). For precise trading, it can be weighed and measured using a scale. It can only be traded in units of *pinches* in the absence of a scale. Pinches have a certain amount of random variability.


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